Comic-con is complete again. Over 140,000 made the pilgrimage to San Diego to buy comic schwag, listen to movie stars, but mostly wait in lines. And for one week, the airwaves were filled with mildly condescending commentary about nerds, defining them as immature, celebrity crazed, Star Wars worshipping groupies.
Well, I have a confession. I'm a nerd. And I bet you're a nerd too.
My shelves aren't filled with action figures still in their boxes, my closet isn't overflowing with dusty comic books, and I've never camped out overnight to catch a first showing of some movie. I don't fit into that stereotype - I'm just a regular nerd.
Specifically, I'm a science nerd. You can find me most nights at science events: learning about the search for dark energy or exploring the intricacies of taxidermy. I spent last weekend talking yeast genetics and its application to brewing.
Geek, dweeb, dork, techie, goober - the label doesn't really matter. I just love learning and I take my passion to ridiculous, borderline obsessive, lengths. That's the defining characteristic of nerds - relentlessly exploring the minutia of some thing just for the pure joy of it.